Clam opener



May 29, 1956 G. THOMPSON 2,747,220

CLAM OPENER Filed May 17, 1954 i f; 62?" efawp al ATTORNEY United States Patent C CLAM OPENER George Thompson, West Atlantic City, N. J.

Application May 17, 1954, Sel7ial'No. 430,275

3 Claims. (Cl. 17.9)

My invention relate s to new and; useful improvements in a clam p ner and has for an. bje t to p id an opener that, is simple to construet, inexpensive to manufa r n efii ient in. action.

As is well known, the opening of clams by hand calls for a skilled operator, and involves considerable time and labor, with there always being the element of the operators cutting his hand.

One of the objects of the present invention therefore is to provide a clam opener in which the clam can be centered with the nose or lips of the clam in an anvil or block, and additionally aligned by being held also at its forward end in a standard, so that a curved blade may be forced through the muscle that holds the shells of the clam together, after which one shell may quickly be separated from the other, and the meat of the clam quickly removed.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a clam opener consisting of a base, an anvil, a standard, and a convex blade having an extension or toe at its forward edge which is pivoted to the standard, and the blade also being fastened to a handle for operation of the aforesaid blade.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a clam opener having an anvil or block with a- V-shaped groove and a standard with a longitudinal arcuate cutout portion in alignment with the V-shaped groove, so that a clam may be placed on the anvil, nose down, pushed forwardly until the forward edge of the shell is also aligned in the aforementioned groove in the standard, so that a curved blade pivoted centrally of the groove in the standard may be forced downwardly to cut the muscle in the rear of the clam, it not being necessary to hold the clam by hand after it is once centered, thus avoiding any danger or risk of the operators hand being cut when the blade is forced through the muscle of the clam.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a clam opener wherein the clam is held adjacent the aligned and regardless of the size of the clam it may be quickly and efficiently opened due to the manner in which a convex blade is mounted in the standard above the centered clam.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a clam opener wherein the clam is held adjacent the pivotal point of the blade to thus take advantage of the lever action of the blade and its handle.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain new and novel arrangements and combination of parts as will hereinafter be more'fully described and pointed out in the claims.

Referring now to the drawings,

Fig. l is a perspective of my improved clam opener,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view, partly in elevation,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and

2,747,220 Patented May 29, 1956 Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on line 44 of Fig, 2;

Referring now more particularly to the several views, there is shown a base 1 to which is secured an anvilor block 2 provided with a longitudinally extending V- shaped' groove 3 and a small longitudinal channel 4 at the bottom of the groove 3. It will also be noticed in Figs. 1 and 2 that this block or anvil 2 tapers slightly from its rear end 5 to its forward end 6.

Secured to the base 1 and-adjacent to the forward end 6 of the anvil 2, is the standard 7 which in turn is provided with the vertically extending cut-out portion 8, which is in direct alignment with the V-shaped groove 3 inthe anvil or block 2,

Near the lower end of the standard 7 is an aperture 9 in which may be fastened a drainage tube 10 so that when the clam is opened by the knife, about to be ex plained, the juicesthatexude or emit from the clam into the V-shaped' groove 3- and the channel 4 will run down the tapered anvil 2 and be drained through the aforementioned'drainage tube 10.

As may be seen in Figs. 1 and 2 there is provided a handle 11 in which is secured by the screws 12 a knife blade 13. The shape of the blade 13 is important, and it will be seen that it is arcuate in shape, convex, and is provided with what might be termed the toe 14. At its forward edge the toe 14 is pivotally mounted in a slot 15 formed in the upper end of the standard 7 and held in place by a screw or pin 16.

This blade 13 is pivoted centrally of the cut-out portion 8, as may be seen in Fig. 3, so that when a clam 17 (Fig. 2) is placed within the block 2 and centered by the cut-out portion 8, the blade 13 will be aligned directly over the juncture of the two portions of the shell of the clam.

To open the clam, regardless of its size, it is only necessary to raise the handle 11 sufiiciently high to permit the clam 17 to be placed in the groove 3 of the anvil 2 and centered in the cut-out portion of the standard 7, after which the handle 11 is forced downwardly, causing the knife blade 13 to cut through the muscle of the clam, after which the handle 11 is raised and the meat of the clam either may be removed from the shell, or may be left in one part of the shell, the latter if the clams are to be served on the half-shell.

I have found it is desirable and even necessary to have an arcuate blade as the cutting action might be called progressive as the blade 13 cuts through the muscle of the clam.

Furthermore it will be seen that the clam does not have to be held with one hand while it is pressed with the other, which I am aware is the practice in some clam openers; thus doing away with any possibility or likelihood of the operators cutting his hand.

Also, by forming the clam opener as shown, rather than trying to run the knife blade through the lips or nose of the clam, which would be diificult to do, the knife blade is designed to operate on the rear of the clam, to cut the muscle and not touch the meat of the clam.

It will be understood that the clam opener might be formed of any desired material.

Many slight changes might be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Having thus described my invention, what I claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a clam opener, a base, an anvil mounted on said base provided with a V-shaped groove in its upper surface whose angularity to the base remains constant throughout its length, a standard also secured at the base and adjacent the forward end of the anvil, said standard provided with a longitudinal cut-out portion in vertical alignment with the V-shaped groove in the anvil, a convex knife blade provided with a toe at its forward end and said toe pivoted in the standard centrally of the aforementioned cut-out portion, a handle secured to said blade whereby a downward movement of the handle will force the blade through the muscle of a clam held in the anvil and aligned in the cut-out portion of the standard.

2. In a clam opener, a base, an anvil mounted on said base, provided with a V-shaped groove in its upper surface whose angularity to the base remains constant throughout its length, a standard also secured at the base and adjacent the forward end of the anvil, said standard provided with a longitudinal cut-out portion in vertical alignment with the V-shaped groove in the anvil, a channel at the bottom ofthe groove, a drain for said groove, a convex knife blade provided with a toe at its forward end, said toe pivoted in the standard centrally of the aforementioned cut-out portion, a handle secured to said blade whereby a downward movement of the handle will progressively force the blade through the muscle of a clam held in the anvil and aligned in the cut-out portion of the standard.

3. In a clam opener, a base, a tapered anvil mounted on said base, provided with a V-shaped groove in its upper surface sloping slightly forwardly and its angularity being constant throughouLits length, a standard also secured at the base and adjacent the forward end of the anvil, said standard provided with a longitudinal cut-out portion in vertical alignment with the V-shaped groove in the anvil, a channel at the bottom of the groove, a drain for said groove, a convex knife blade provided with a toe at its forward end, said toe pivoted in the standard centrally of the aforementioned cut-out portion, and a handle secured to said blade whereby a downward movement of the handle will progressively force the blade through the muscle of a clam held in the anvil and aligned in the cut-out portion of the standard.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

